Puppy survival thread October/November!

[HappyThursdays]

hello all - will hopefully link from the old one!

just realised we'll all have fireworks night to get through shortly. Went out for a walk with dpuppy who is getting much better at walking though we met a big dog which scared him a lot! We can only get him into puppy classes in November which is a shame but at least it's something

@polkadotpjs just looked up the dog, how beautiful. Yes, I can imagine how awful it must have made you feel. I know I felt something like that when dpup was terrible on a walk and I could barely hold onto him and someone asked if I was getting him trained while other puppies trotted past not pulling on the lead and behaving perfectly! It's a bit like @MumofaBear and the barking with GSD who isn't being aggressive but gets cast as such. It's a bit like babies where every parent has an opinion - it certainly seems as though everyone has an opinion on puppies/dogs too (actually you've just got to read some of the posts on mumsnet to realise that!)

hopefully the trainer will help explain her actions but I'd be pretty upset with someone who treated me that way too

@atalune how old is ds? yes substituting with a toy is a good idea. Turning away. I also think removing the dog also works (to a different room, behind a door). We've also noticed pup is far more bitey when tired so that might be a trigger. Also I saw something on one of the puppy programmes on TV that said showing your kids to hold the toy at the dog's height, not above it all the time (which dc tend to do naturally!). When they hold the toy above the head it encourages the puppy to jump and encourages the puppy to bite as their head is the highest point they can reach up with if you see what I mean!

@polkadotpjs I’m so sorry, that sounds awful but I agree either the others, that class isn’t right for you and pup and reflects poorly on the trainer and not you. I think people tend to forget that puppies are babies and barking is their way of communicating?! You wouldn’t expect a toddler to sit through a class not making a peep so why would a puppy?

@HappyThursdays I know what you mean about them thinking it’s a game when they have things in their mouths! Bearpup decided to roll around in our lavender bush and then charged up the garden with about five lavender heads in his mouth..... managed to get them all out after about 15 mins of chasing and he smells lovely now lol

@HappyThursdays thank you for the tip about getting down to the pups level- this is something that sort of occurred to me last night but you’ve put it perfectly, will do that this afternoon with the kids. Dpup is just so happy to see the kids she goes nuts!

[quote Atalune]@HappyThursdays thank you for the tip about getting down to the pups level- this is something that sort of occurred to me last night but you’ve put it perfectly, will do that this afternoon with the kids. Dpup is just so happy to see the kids she goes nuts![/quote]
I've been trying to get mine to hold the toy away from their body also. Then it keeps pup at arms length rather than being too close to feet & legs.

@Atalune no just a let not a working dog. Why you ask? I'm intrigued. I'd post a pic but the app won't let me - I think it's a phone storage issue

@polkadotpjs
We looked at one Lakeland Terrier/patterdale and after some research we felt they were better suited to a more Farmy family. So slightly different breed cross though! I know terriers in general are good at chasing and digging and hunting. Terriers make excellent “ratters”.

What are patterdales like?

Oh Patterdales get a very mixed review but thankfully I know lots of people who love them. They have their quirks the ones I know but all love kids and people and are great dogs. I think the Border in him makes him more mellow and he's very easily persuaded away from looking at a squirrel by food and he's not been bad for lunging after birds/ cats. Interested yes but not difficult to distract away.

I took Dpup for a walk in the garden today and she started digging like crazy. It was funny!

Got an issue with pup jumping up at us when we’re holding food because he thinks absolutely every food item is for him. Obv I hold it high up and say ‘no’ guessing he’ll just learn over time to not do this?

He also ate his own poo as soon as he’d done it earlier I mean he’s eaten his own poo before if DH hasn’t got to it for a bit, but this time it was immediate- so so disgusting!

Pic for cuteness

Can anyone give me tips on toilet training? I’m at complete loss, we’ve been using puppy pads in the crate and next to the kitchen bin but he’s only getting it on the pad by the bin about 30% of the time. He’s hides to take a poo in the house. The funny thing is he won’t poop/ pee outside, it’s like he holds it till he gets home then does it sneakily. It’s completely my fault of course, I’ve had so much going on the last couple of days I haven’t always given him my full attention. I think I need to get rid of the puppy pads. Any ideas?

I tend to throw food down that is theirs if he begs or reward for sitting down - our trainer said click and treat in the split second he sits down or stops jumping up.

SpaceRaiders some people do ok with puppy pads but I think it confuses others.

You are effectively saying it's ok to toilet inside but only in some circumstances. Lots of puppies struggle anyway with toilet training so adding another complication into the mix can just confuse them even more.

I would get rid of the pads and go back to basics with taking him outside after every meal, drink, play, sleep and frequently in between. Stay out with him even until he is forced to go and praise like mad. If you think he needs to toilet and you go back in stick with him and take him out 5 mins later. If you see him pee/poo grab and run outside and then praise again.

Make sure you are cleaning up accidents with the special cleaners so they aren't encouraged to go in the same spot.

The Facebook group puppy training support / new puppy owners has a very good chapter on toilet training.

We haven’t bothered with training pads as I read they confuse pups and unless you live in a flat or something I think they are a bit like using pull ups for potty training. They just add another confusing message.

Potty training for us so far has been ok with lots of trips outside and a small treat ready for as soon as she goes. Treat straight away and lots of praise and petting.

Treat that is working well is a little bit of cooked chicken each time. But it has to be immediate.

Pup did some bitey bites, but am going to work on rug or war with her tomorrow a bit more and start on the “drop” command.

@polkadotpjs gorgeous doggie! So sleek!

@polkadotpjs gorgeous! I have a soft spot for black dogs!

Yes we are also trying drop and leave it this week with varying degrees of success @atalune. Big difficulty is when dc are here and they play games where they chase puppy which is encouraging him to run off with stuff so I might pause this lesson till after the weekend!

My little bundle of love and teeth has been with us for a week today. I’m tired 😂
Struggling with not being able to leave the room for even a second without screaming and barking, no distraction seems to help. Any suggestions?
I’ve uploaded a pic so you can all see how demonic it is

He’s lovely @Yodasdog, what kind? Some sort of bulldog?

@puppygalore

Thanks *@Retrievemysanity* that's what we've been doing but she just can't stay/wait for any length of time! I'm hoping it gets better with age and practise but til then she's my shadow.

For ZombiePup, we have nailed "wait" mostly in terms of dinner and breakfast - we dish up, put down, and then say wait. If he gets up, we make some sort of noise along the lines of "ah ah ah ah" and raise hand/sit signal. He pauses, looks at us and then we say "go on then" and he has food.

He's gradually hit the point now where he sits and waits automatically, unless absolutely starving and then he doesnt want to.

In other areas though, we are slowly trying to expand the wait to walks etc. It is a slow curve but we are hopefully getting there

@Atalune he’s a Boston Terrier

Oooh lots of lovely pups Struggling still with the biting here. Hard to have any interaction with Retrieverpup that doesn’t involve her going for our hands or feet. Kept telling myself that this is all normal and it will be better soon but then saw on a retriever forum that someone had the same issue with their 14 month old! Anyone else struggling?

@Retrievemysanity I have a 20 week old lab/golden retriever cross and the puppy biting was a nightmare, it was constant and really upsetting for my kids. He had me on here in tears on more than one occasion! They are a mouthy breed and I think you do need to be on top of it but for us it calmed down hugely around 16 weeks. I liked Ian Dunbar's stuff on bite inhibition and found it very helpful.

I haven't checked in in ages but it's nice to see how the other pups are doing! Chocpup is still a bit of a dickhead on walks, his lead walking is getting much better with work and his recall is good without dogs about but he still wants to say hello to EVERYONE so he's on the longline for the forseeable.

@Chocolateandamaretto thanks for that, yes it’s constant here too and upsetting for the kids particularly my eldest who has downs. I’ll check out Ian Dunbar.

So far, we are trying to distract with a toy or leaving the room when she bites. When we are eating or kids are in the kitchen/diner, pup goes in her playpen with a chew or kong. Does that sound like we are doing the right thing? Frustrating that she’s so quick to learn commands etc but can’t work out we don’t like the biting lol!

Yes that sounds a lot like what we did - any biting that hurt meant we were done and we would get up and walk away. Toys to distract if he looked like he was going to get mouthy. We do allow very gentle mouthing here - if you read Dunbar's stuff it explains about ABI which we felt was quite important but I know some people prefer to have a no teeth on skin ever policy so it's just what you want in your house really.

What was also really helpful, especially with the kids, was really intense management. Obviously they aren't ever alone with him anyway but a really big trigger for him is them running around and squeaking specifically in the living room so we don't let them in there at the same time - he only comes in the living room in the evening with me DH and older daughter who can sit and watch tv calmly. Keep their interactions really short and sweet, so he doesn't get riled up and start getting excited. It sounds like you're doing this sort of thing anyway with keeping him in the playpen for mealtimes.

And yes it is so frustrating when they pick some stuff up straight away but not other stuff - now we're past biting it's bloody jumping up!